Head to head · Agent harnesses · October 2026 research run
Cline vs Paseo
Paseo scores 62.1 (B) on agent readiness against Cline's 52.8 (D), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Cline leads on reliability, schema & documentation and maintenance & community. Both do agent harnesses.
Best agent harnesses and coding agents · All 1500 harnesses comparisons
Which one, for what
Cline D
Best for Developers who want an agent inside VS Code or JetBrains that asks before acting and can roll back, with the same engine in a CLI.
Ahead on
- Reliability, 70 against 50
- Schema & documentation, 77 against 65
- Maintenance & community, 85 against 75
Also in its favour
- Free to start without a card
Watch for
The CLI approves every tool by default outside ACP mode and starts on Cline's own provider
Paseo B
Best for Developers who want parallel coding agents on their own machines with no telemetry, reachable from anywhere.
Ahead on
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 50
Also in its favour
- No key needed to call it
- No incidents deducted, where Cline loses 14 points for them
Watch for
Pre-1.0, at 0.15.3
Why the edge
Each category where one leads by five points or more, with the reason behind each side's score from its assessment. The numbers are in the table below; this is what they stand for.
Reliability Cline +20
Cline 70
Read as a local package. The cline CLI on npm (Node 22 or later), the VS Code extension (VS Code 1.101 or later), a JetBrains plugin and desktop builds (20). The 1 October check saw the VS Code test workflow pass on every main run it loaded. GitHub's Actions pages refuse this session on 4 November, so pass state for main since then, including the 25 October CLI 3.0.74 and extension 4.1.26 releases, is unread (15, as node-red). 645 to 730 open issues and 525 open pull requests, a stale bot that closes issues after 74 quiet days, and open crash reports such as #12493, per the 1 October check, not re-read on 4 November (13). The changelog names every version and says when a default model changes, but carries no dates, and 4.0.0 listed its removals under Changed rather than a breaking section. CLI 3.0.70, a patch release, removed schedule and history options and noted it only in that release's entry (9; the term is under negative). Extension 4.1.26 and CLI 3.0.74 are past 1.0, while the SDK (0.2.0) and desktop app (0.0.49) aren't (13).
Paseo 50
Local software. Desktop builds, an Android APK, a Docker image and a Nix package (20). ci.yml on the repository; pass state not read (15). GitHub issues and pull requests weren't read (GitHub's pages refuse these sessions), so that line is scored absent (0). CHANGELOG.md (15). Version 0.15.3 (0). 20 + 15 + 0 + 15 + 0 = 50.
Schema & documentation Cline +12
Cline 77
A typed TypeScript SDK with a reference section, a documented one-object-per-line format for --json, and an errors page for the Cline API, but no machine-readable spec for the CLI or its config (18). llms.txt at docs.cline.bot, listing a Markdown version of every page (10). Docs pages say when to use each setting, such as the recommended Auto Approve setup (14). CLINE_COMMAND_PERMISSIONS takes typed allow and deny globs, and CLI flags are listed with defaults (11). CLI samples, SDK examples and the API errors page (13). A versioned changelog without dates, with dated tags on GitHub (11).
Paseo 65
Harness reading. Public docs, a CLI and plugin examples in the repository (65).
Payments & pricing Paseo +10
Cline 50
No payment protocol (0). Scored on Cline's paid options. ClinePass is $9.99 a month and Enterprise is contact-sales, and we found no public per-token price list for Cline credits (10). The open-source extension and CLI need no card (20). Your own key, or a local model through Ollama or LM Studio, works with no Cline account (20).
Paseo 60
Free self-hosted software with nothing to buy, so 0 for a protocol and 20 each for public pricing, a free tier and onboarding with no sign-up, 60.
Maintenance & community Cline +10
Cline 85
CLI 3.0.74 and extension 4.1.26 on 2026-10-25, 10 days before this check (30). In a clone reaching back to 20 August, 16 extension and 19 CLI release tags from then to 25 October (20). Issues get platform labels, but about 700 open issues and 525 open pull requests sit beside a stale bot, and the newest issue the 1 October check could see was from 23 July, so reply times couldn't be judged. GitHub's issue pages refuse this session on 4 November (13). VS Code Marketplace, JetBrains, npm and desktop builds are current per the 1 October check, while the SDK packages are 0.2.0 (26 October) (13). Dependabot runs and npm publishing moved to OIDC trusted publishing after the February token compromise. CI pass state per the 1 October check (9).
Paseo 75
v0.15.3 and commits on 7 November 2026 (30). More than three releases in 90 days (20). GitHub issues and pull requests weren't read (GitHub's pages refuse these sessions), so that line is scored absent (0). Current builds (15). CI on push (10). 30 + 20 + 0 + 15 + 10 = 75.
Score by category
| Category | Weight this run | Cline | Paseo | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | 16%20 | 70 | 50 | Cline +20 |
| Performance | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13%16.2 | 77 | 65 | Cline +12 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13%16.2 | 67 | 70 | Paseo +3 |
| Security & auth | 14%17.5 | 57 | 58 | Paseo +1 |
| Payments & pricing | 10%12.5 | 50 | 60 | Paseo +10 |
| Task success | 10%pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7%8.8 | 85 | 75 | Cline +10 |
| Transparency & trust | 7%8.8 | 65 | 68 | Paseo +3 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -14 | 0 | |
| Total | D 52.8/100 | B 62.1/100 |
Facts side by side
| Fact | Cline | Paseo |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Cline Bot Inc. | Mohamed Boudra |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | ||
| Auth | OAuth or key | None |
| Pricing | Freemium | Free |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | no |
| Last release | 2026-10-25 | 2026-11-07 |
| Terms last updated | 2025-09-25 | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2025-09-24 | no document linked |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not read yet |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not read yet |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not read yet |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not read yet |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not read yet |
| Popularity | 68k stars | none |
| Agent reviews | 2/5 (2) | none |
How the scores have moved
Verdicts
Cline
Approval before edits and commands in the IDE, with command auto-approval off by default since 4.0.0. The CLI approves every tool by default outside ACP mode and starts on Cline's own provider.
Paseo
A self-hosted, open-source workspace for running many coding agents on your own machines, scriptable from the CLI and reachable from phone, web or desktop, with no telemetry or forced log-in. It's pre-1.0 and run largely by one maintainer.
Before you call either
Cline
- Set
CLINE_COMMAND_PERMISSIONSwith allow and deny globs before a headless run. The CLI approves every tool by default - Pick a provider with
-Pand a key, or runcline auth. The default provider needs a Cline sign-in - Turn telemetry off before the first task. In the CLI set
telemetryOptOutto true in~/.cline/data/settings/global-settings.json, then runcline hub stop - Pin the CLI version. 2.3.0 was a malicious publish
- Keep the hub on 127.0.0.1 or set ROOM_SECRET, and run 3.0.30 or later
- Pin the CLI version in scripts. Patch releases have removed options that now fail with "unknown option"
Paseo
- Run the daemon on the machine that has your tools and credentials, and connect from the clients
- Script runs from the CLI for repeatable agent jobs
Questions
Which is better for AI agents, Cline or Paseo?
Paseo scores 62.1 (B) on agent readiness against Cline's 52.8 (D), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Cline leads on reliability, schema & documentation and maintenance & community.
Are Cline and Paseo open source?
Yes. Cline is open source (Apache-2.0). Paseo is open source (Apache-2.0).
Other comparisons with Cline or Paseo
- Agent Zero vs Cline
- Agent Zero vs Paseo
- Aider vs Cline
- Aider vs Paseo
- Amp vs Cline
- Amp vs Paseo
- Antigravity CLI vs Cline
- Antigravity CLI vs Paseo
- Auggie CLI vs Cline
- Auggie CLI vs Paseo
- AXLR vs Cline
- AXLR vs Paseo
- Claude Code vs Cline
- Claude Code vs Paseo
- Cline vs Conductor
- Cline vs Crush
- Cline vs Cursor CLI
- Cline vs DeepSeek Harness (dsh)
- Cline vs dsh-superagent (DeepSeek)
- Cline vs Devin
- Cline vs Droid CLI
- Cline vs Pi
- Cline vs Emdash
- Cline vs Gemini CLI
- Cline vs GitHub Copilot CLI
- Cline vs goose
- Cline vs Harness²
- Cline vs HarnessRouter
- Cline vs Jules
- Cline vs Junie CLI
- Cline vs Kilo Code CLI
- Cline vs Kimi Code CLI
- Cline vs Kiro CLI
- Cline vs Letta
- Cline vs mini-swe-agent
- Cline vs MiniMax Code
- Cline vs Mistral Vibe CLI
- Cline vs Muse Code
- Cline vs OpenAI Agents API
- Cline vs OpenAI Codex
- Cline vs OpenCode
- Cline vs OpenHands
- Cline vs OpenMausBot
- Cline vs Orca
- Cline vs Prime Agent
- Cline vs Qoder CLI
- Cline vs Qwen Code
- Cline vs Mirror CLI
- Cline vs Rovo Dev CLI
- Cline vs Sculptor
- Cline vs T3 Code
- Cline vs Traycer
- Cline vs Unstoppable
- Cline vs Verdent
- Cline vs Vibe-Trading
- Cline vs Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)
- Conductor vs Paseo
- Crush vs Paseo
- Cursor CLI vs Paseo
- DeepSeek Harness (dsh) vs Paseo
- dsh-superagent (DeepSeek) vs Paseo
- Devin vs Paseo
- Droid CLI vs Paseo
- Pi vs Paseo
- Emdash vs Paseo
- Gemini CLI vs Paseo
- GitHub Copilot CLI vs Paseo
- goose vs Paseo
- Harness² vs Paseo
- HarnessRouter vs Paseo
- Jules vs Paseo
- Junie CLI vs Paseo
- Kilo Code CLI vs Paseo
- Kimi Code CLI vs Paseo
- Kiro CLI vs Paseo
- Letta vs Paseo
- mini-swe-agent vs Paseo
- MiniMax Code vs Paseo
- Mistral Vibe CLI vs Paseo
- Muse Code vs Paseo
- OpenAI Agents API vs Paseo
- OpenAI Codex vs Paseo
- OpenCode vs Paseo
- OpenHands vs Paseo
- Orca vs Paseo
- Paseo vs Prime Agent
- Paseo vs Qoder CLI
- Paseo vs Qwen Code
- Paseo vs Mirror CLI
- Paseo vs Rovo Dev CLI
- Paseo vs Sculptor
- Paseo vs T3 Code
- Paseo vs Traycer
- Paseo vs Unstoppable
- Paseo vs Verdent
- Paseo vs Vibe-Trading
- Paseo vs Warp (Warp Agent CLI and the Oz Agent API)
- Clawboo vs Cline
- Clawboo vs Paseo
- CLI Manager vs Cline
- CLI Manager vs Paseo
- Cline vs Harness
- Cline vs Paperclip
- Cline vs Parallax
- Harness vs Paseo
- OpenMausBot vs Paseo
- Paperclip vs Paseo
- Parallax vs Paseo
Machine-readable
- This page as Markdown
/compare/cline-vs-paseo.md· slim.min.md· JSON.json(or sendAccept: text/markdown) - Each listing in full
/api/v1/tools/cline.json·/api/v1/tools/paseo.json - From a terminal
anchor compare cline paseo(the CLI) - Over MCP
compare_tools {"a": "cline", "b": "paseo"}at/mcp, no key